Washington slips into NIT field, plays BYU on Tuesday

Sitting at home the past couple days and watching the Oregon Ducks win the Pac-12 Tournament wasn't the best weekend Washington head coach Lorenzo Romar could envision.

"From a professional basketball standpoint, it hasn't been too good," Romar said. "It's been hard sitting around waiting for your fate. Not knowing. Knowing we had a great opportunity right before us and let it slip away in some ways, it's difficult."

He received a positive bump Sunday night when he found out Washington will be going to the National Invitation Tournament for the second consecutive season.

The sixth-seeded Huskies (18-15) will travel to play the third-seeded BYU Cougars (21-11) on Provo, Utah, on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in the first round of the NIT.

"We were hopeful to get a bid for the NIT, but we weren't sure, thought it was 50-50 going in," Romar said. "I would say it's more excitement for our guys, especially for our seniors who get to continue to play."

This Selection Sunday was different than last year's. Washington had won the Pac-12 regular-season title and had a sliver of hope for the NCAA Tournament. When it was left out, becoming the first Pac-12 regular-season champion to be skipped, there was a letdown.

That carried into the Huskies' first NIT game at home against Texas-Arlington, which they won 82-72 in zombie-like fashion. Romar says it should be easier to get going this season, since BYU's Marriott Place is renowned as a difficult place to play.

He also knows where the blame for missing the NCAA Tournament lays.

"We certainly didn't have the kind of year where we're playing every game and we're very consistent, where we expected to be in the NCAA Tournament," Romar said. "However, down the stretch, we began to play better and up until our last game we thought we were doing a better job and certainly had our chances. It can be bittersweet in that regard. But we were our own worst enemy up to this point this year."

The last example of that was the Huskies' overtime loss to the Ducks during which it had control of the game at multiple points. Afterward, a distraught Abdul Gaddy sat at his locker staring at the floor. He wondered if he would get to play another game since Washington was on the NIT bubble, and the selection process is often subjective. He got his wish.

"The point is to just keep playing — home or away. It does not make any difference," Gaddy said. "I just want to keep my career going as long as possible."

After two days off, Washington practiced Sunday night and will leave for Provo on Monday. Should Washington advance, it will play the winner of the Tennessee/Mercer game at some point between March 21-25. Who would host that game, no matter the outcome, was unclear Sunday.

For now, Washington has to worry about slowing BYU's leading scorer Tyler Haws and dealing with what is typically a boisterous BYU home crowd.

"I'm just excited to be able to keep playing," fifth-year senior Scott Suggs said. "I wish things would have turned out differently in the Pac-12 tournament but nonetheless we're able to keep playing. We have another chance to win something."